


More than Buddies

by Jun_S_Kay



Category: Borderlands
Genre: Adding tags as I go along, Borderline Personality Disorder, I was once part of the Buddy Program too, M/M, Trust exercises, and Jack, competitive Rhys, it was amazing, rating is probably going to change (upping it), story core was randomised by a site and I went from there
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-04-16
Updated: 2016-04-16
Packaged: 2018-06-02 15:59:51
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,898
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6572590
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Jun_S_Kay/pseuds/Jun_S_Kay
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>It's a cold winter's day when Rhys meets the most terrifying person so far. A person who justifies kicking the seats in the bus, and breaking phones just because he got some bad news. Cue for Rhys to be stupid enough to call attention his way by saying a stupid remark, and then run for his life.<br/>They have the good fortune of meeting again once they enter 'The Buddy Program', and get to do oh so fun 'trust exercises'. At first they don't like each other, and that's saying it lightly, but well... It's called the buddy program for a reason.</p>
            </blockquote>





	More than Buddies

**Author's Note:**

> I used a story randomiser to try, and break the writer's block, and the following came out:
> 
> The story begins on a bus   
> Someone is diagnosed with a mental illness   
> It's a story about memories  
> Your character realises no-one will listen to what s/he's saying 

Rhys waited at the bus stop, dressed in a long winter coat, red bag slung over his shoulder, and a black leather glove hiding his cybernetic hand, his flesh hand was gloveless for reasons. He was tapping away on his phone, and slightly swaying his hips to the beat of the music. No, no he didn’t care that he might look silly. It was cold, and what better way to stay warm?

The bus huffed, and puffed, slowed by age, as it came to a stop. The doors parts with a groan, but the kid didn’t hear it. He simply stepped in, and showed his card to the driver. He took one of his earplugs out, as a form of politeness. Since he took the bus on a daily basis, the little old man behind the wheel recognised him. They smiled at each other, and Rhys took his seat in the far back.

The only other person present was a peculiar man with a scar across his face. He had huddled himself in a filthy yellow hoodie, and rested his head against the, equally filthy, window. The poor, unknown man had his arms crossed, and tired eyes shut. A frown decorated his face, and his lower lip stuck out slightly.

The music still filled his head through one earplug, a jazzy beat making his fingers ache to tap along. So, he did.

A cheery tune filled the bus, and interrupted the peaceful music. Rhys turned his head to the only other person in the bus, and watched him grudgingly pull his phone out of the pocket of his hoodie.

            “Jack here.” He huffed. “What do you want?”

The music was turned down slightly. It wasn’t exactly eavesdropping, just… it was too loud?

            “Okay…Good…” The man was silent. Just completely, and utterly silent. His breath not even sounding.

The bus came to a stop, a red light being the case.

            “…I understand.” Without another word, or proper goodbye, the stranger ended his call. He tossed the phone away from him, and the fragile device cracked its screen on the unforgiving bus floor.

Rhys flinched at the sudden sound, and he noticed the bus driver doing the very same. Hesitantly, he glanced at the other person out of the corners of his eyes. Despite sitting behind him, he felt that it would be noticed.

            “GOD FUCKIN’ DAMN IT!” The man kicked the seats in front of him, and smacked his hand against the window.

_Please let the next bus stop be here soon, please, please, please,_ the poor kid thought to himself. He checked the time of his phone, and of course there were still forty minutes to go. He shrunk back into his seat, but didn’t even _dare_ to put his earphones back in. He watched the other twisted, and turned in his seat, angry eyes scanning the bus. _Oh god_ , Rhys shrunk back even further in his seat, trying to hide in his seat.

The stranger saw his hair, nevertheless. He just stared at it, but didn’t move. He watched the person slowly sit more upright, but the second their eyes locked, he shrunk back down. He turned away, and kicked the seat in front of him again.

            “S-sir? C-can you p-please stop k-kicking the s-seats?” Croaked the old man.

            “SHUT UP! I JUST GOT BAD NEWS, LET ME DO WHAT I WANT!”

            “Such _great_ reasoning.” Rhys mumbled to himself.

            “The fuck did you say pipsqueak?!”

Of course.

            “S-sir, you need to stay s-seated!” The bus driver called, panic clear in his eyes.

            “I’ll do whatever _the fuck_ I want!”

_Oh god, oh god, oh god, oh god_. He frantically looked around, there should be an emergency brake somewhere!

The stranger slid in the seat next to him, quickly piercing the bubble that protected his comfort zone. “ _What_ did you just say?”

            “N-nothing.” Rhys looked _anywhere_ but at the man.

            “Are you sure about that, cupcake?”

            “S-so sure.”

The man leaned in more, face just inches away from the other’s.

The bus came to a stop, but not at a bus stop. There was eye contact between the trapped man, and the bus driver. Rhys quickly pushed himself up, and hurried out of the bus. He mouthed a silent “Thank you.” to the little man, and stepped out.

 

At first, he didn’t even notice. Then, he started to have an assumption. Eventually, he was certain that he was being followed. He texted Fiona, asking if she could pick him up, because truth be told…He had _no clue_ where he was.

She responded, but couldn’t do much for as long as she didn’t know where he was.

Rhys dared to look over his shoulder, and flinched when he saw the _very angry_ man from the bus. The kid fastened his pace, turning corners at random, but couldn’t shake him off! With a trembling hand he took out his phone, and called Vaughn. “Bro!” He squeaked. “You’ve _got_ to help me!”

            “A-are you crying?”

            “ _No_.” Not yet at least.

            “What’s wrong?”

            “I-I don’t know where I am, and someone’s following me. That someone is super scary. Oh my god.” He looked over his shoulder again. Still, the man was there. “You have to help me!”

            “I can’t pick you up if I don’t know where you are, bro!” Vaughn’s voice was starting to sound panicky. “Go into a hotel? Restaurant? Anywhere?”

            “Good idea! I hadn’t thought about that.” Rhys locked his attention on a restaurant nearby, and jogged to it. He opened the door, and quickly closed it behind him. “I’m in a restaurant now.”

            “Good. Just… Explain what happened, I’m sure they’ll help you.”

            “Y-yeah. I’ll call you back.” He still thought it was rude to remain on the phone when talking to other people.

            “Hey there! Welcome to Taz Coffee, I’m Axton.” A man with sandy hair said. “How can I help you?” He had a big smile on his face.

            “H-Hi. Uhm.” _Just explain what happened_. “A really scary guy is following me, a-and my friend on the p-phone said I s-should just e-enter a r-restaur-rant.” He stuttered more, and more as he talked, fear grabbing onto him, and whispering in his ear.

            “Wow, okay. Calm down, precious.” Axton placed his hands on the kid’s shoulders. “Come on in.”

Rhys followed the man, or well… He was _guided_ further by an assuring hand on his back. He rubbed his eyes to force the threatening tears back. He was sat down at a table.

            “What does the man look like?”

            “S-scary. Big scar over his f-face, and a really dirty y-yellow hoodie.”

            “All right. We’ll keep an eye out. D’you want something to drink?”

            “I-I would like some tea?”

            “Guy walks into a _coffee_ shop, and asks for _tea_.” Axton huffed a laugh, and shook his head. “Sure. I’ll be right back.”

The kid blushed slightly. “Thanks…” He mumbled.

The owner? Waiter? The man walked off back into the kitchen. He stopped to talk to a lady with bright blue hair, and pointed at poor Rhys. She gave a thumbs up in return, and stared at the door with folded arms, not unlike a bodyguard.

_A very pretty bodyguard_ , Rhys thought as he played with the black leather glove. A part of him wanted to take it off, but that would put him at risk at being asked questions. Again. He just wanted his tea.

Axton was indeed ‘right back’. He put a cup of hot water on the table, and opened a box with teabags for the other to pick from.

The kid chose the tangerine flavour, and dipped it in his water. He waited until it had a nice, dark tint, and pulled it back out. The waiter remained where he was, or maybe he was the owner. He should ask. “Are you the owner?”

            “Yup, and I protect my customers.”

            “Sooo, if I didn’t buy anything, then you wouldn’t have?”

            “It’s on the house.” He winked.

Rhys laughed nervously, and took a sip from his tea. He tried his best to keep a straight face as the still hot water burned his tongue.

The bell that hung above the entrance door, chimed, notifying everyone of a new customer. That customer was the scowling man with the filthy black hoodie.

The lady with the blue hair was quick to move forward, blocking him from Axton, and their customer. She moved along with the scarred man, staying right in front of him.

The owner of the restaurant stepped forward as well. “Hey.” He folded his arms. “I have to ask you to leave.”

            “Ask all ya _fuckin_ ’ want, cupcake. I need to talk to pipsqueak over there.”

Rhys squeaked.

            “See? He agrees.”

            “The kid doesn’t want to talk to you, sir. Please leave.”

            “Then I guess he doesn’t want his _bag,_ ” The stranger held up with black backpack. “either.”

Axton turned to Rhys with arched brows, watching him frantically search around himself. “His bag?”

            “Yeah. He left it on the bus.”

            “You could’ve _said_ something!” The kid argued.

            “I _called_ out to you!”

            “In an _angry_ voice!”

            “Because you kept _running_!”

The sandy haired man looked from one to the other, and then he stared at his employee. She stared back, with an expression clearly asking: _Do we do something?_

The stranger pushed his way past the two, and tossed the bag onto the table.

            “Careful with that! I have a laptop in there!” The kid yelped, quickly standing up from his seat.

            “A _thank you_ would suffice as well.” He planted his ass on the chair opposite to the other. “I want some strong coffee, and painkillers if you have some.” He rubbed his temples. “My head is _killing_ me.”

Axton was hesitating.

            “Well? What are you waiting for?”

Rhys was not joking when he said the man was ‘scary’, and the owner walked off to get the man the _filthiest, darkest, more tar than coffee_ coffee.

The kid placed his bag carefully on the ground, and pulled his tea close to him. Similar to in the bus, he looked anywhere but at the stranger.

            “Name’s Jack.”

            “…Kay.”

            “You?”

            “Err…” He really shouldn’t give out his real name. The man didn’t sit right with him. “…William.”

            “Mkay, _William_. A little boring, but fancy at the same time. Congrats on your parents choosing that name.”

            “Yeah…” He wanted to leave.

Jack tapped his fingers on the table, staring _William_ down as he waited for his coffee. Kid was tall, pretty in a lot of ways, and a nervous wreck. “So, do ya work?”

            “I-I’m in college.”

            “Which one?”

Oh boy. Rhys simply didn’t answer, keeping his gaze focused on a very interesting stray feather on the floor, and sipped his tea.

            “I asked ya something, pumpkin.”

            “Uhm. I…err…”

Axton was like a guardian angel, swooping in with the coffee, and loudly setting it down in front of the man. He put a few painkillers, as requested, next to the cup. He turned to the stuttering kid. “Are you done with your tea?”

            “Yes. Yes, I am.” Rhys quickly grabbed his bag, and put it over his shoulder. “Thanks. Bye.”

            “Hey!” Jack called after him, looking from the coffee to the kid.

            “Sir, you need to pay for that coffee.”

The kid ran out of the door, hurrying to another place to ask for directions.

**Author's Note:**

> Find me on Tumblr right here: junskay.tumblr.com  
> Feel free to comment your thoughts, and hopes for the upcoming chapter.


End file.
